diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index 40d803da7..7f0a0e5e6 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -325,27 +325,6 @@ int execute (
 // Collides with std::numeric_limits methods
 #undef max
 
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-// Escapes any unescaped character of type c within the given string
-// e.g. ' ' -> '\ '
-const std::string escape (const std::string& value, char c)
-{
-  std::string modified = value;
-  char tmp[2] = {c, '\0'};
-  std::string search  = tmp;
-  std::string replace = "\\" + search;
-
-  std::string::size_type pos = modified.find (search);
-  while (pos != std::string::npos) {
-    if ( modified[pos-1] != '\\' )
-      modified.replace (pos, 1, replace);
-
-    pos = modified.find (search, pos+1);
-  }
-
-  return modified;
-}
-
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Accept a list of projects, and return an indented list
 // that reflects the hierarchy.
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 1de12dc0c..b64035f60 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@ int execute (const std::string&, const std::vector <std::string>&, const std::st
   int flock (int, int);
 #endif
 
-const std::string escape (const std::string&, char);
-
 const std::vector<std::string> indentTree (
   const std::vector<std::string>&,
   const std::string& whitespace = "  ",